Food Rescue US is committed to reducing food waste and food insecurity in America. Currently, food waste is contributing 8 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. According to Project Drawdown, reducing food waste by 50% by 2050 would result in 26.2 gigatons of avoided CO2e.
Using technology, we engage volunteers to transfer fresh food surpluses from local businesses to social service agencies serving the food insecure. Our model empowers communities to serve themselves with the support of our technology. All participants in our work are members of the communities that we serve, including our food donors, rescuers, and agency partners.
Food Rescue US was founded in Fairfield County in 2011 when our founders, Jeff Schacher and Kevin Mullins, recognized that two growing challenges facing their community and the nation – food insecurity and food waste – could be solved with innovative technology, volunteers, and a direct-transfer model.
Together they founded Community Plates and created a unique model of food rescue that is simple, sustainable and scalable. The organization quickly received vast support from volunteer rescuers, food donors, and social service agencies, and by 2014, the organization had rescued more than 6 million meals and was serving not only Fairfield County but also Albuquerque and Columbus.
In the following years, we continued to expand in order to meet the needs of more communities. In 2017, the organization changed its name to Food Rescue US in recognition of our expanding national presence and simultaneously launched a new version of our technology, which we continue to upgrade.
Since our founding, we have provided 68 million meals and kept 89 million pounds of excess food out of landfills. Food Rescue US is now in 31 locations across 19 states and the District of Columbia, and we are constantly growing.
